Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963)

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow is special because it lets Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni play a whole spectrum of love, desire, and negotiation across three sharply contrasted slices of Italy, all with Vittorio De Sica’s deceptively light touch. It’s a film that feels breezy and sensual on the surface—full of comic timing, star charisma, and that effortless mid-century flair—yet it keeps revealing little pinpricks of social truth about money, class, and the bargains people make to survive. Loren’s versatility is the real magic: she can be earthy, icy, and incandescent within the same evening’s viewing, and the movie knows exactly how to frame her as both a joke’s punchline and a person with agency. If you’re looking for a single sweeping romance, the anthology format may feel episodic, but if you want warmth, charm, and grown-up comedy that actually has something to say, this is a delight.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow is aiming for a playful, adult anthology where Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni use three very different relationships to poke at class, desire, and hypocrisy in postwar Italy. The problem is that it’s uneven by design: one segment may charm you while the next feels thin, talky, or like it’s coasting on star wattage rather than sharp writing. If you’re expecting consistent laugh-out-loud comedy or a tightly plotted romance, this can come off slight and even a bit overrated. But if you enjoy classic European cinema that’s more about mood, performance, and social flavor than punchlines, Loren’s presence and De Sica’s sense of place can still make it worth your time.